Nightwish
Nightwish | |
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| File:Nightwish1.jpg | |
| Background information | |
| Years active | 1996–present |
| Members | Tuomas Holopainen Marco Hietala Emppu Vuorinen Jukka Nevalainen |
Nightwish is a Finnish symphonic metal/power metal band, formed in 1996. In other cases they have been called opera metal. Tuomas Holopainen once described their music as "melodic heavy metal with a female voice." The band is currently recovering from a break with their former vocalist, Tarja Turunen. A replacement has not yet been found.
Band history
Angels Fall First (1996–1997)
Nightwish's formation officially took place in Kitee, Finland in July of 1996. It started out as Holopainen's experiment using keyboards, acoustic guitar and the operatic voice of Tarja Turunen. At this time there were three band members: Holopainen, Turunen and Erno "Emppu" Vuorinen (guitar).
The name Nightwish derived from one of the songs on their very first acoustic demo ("Nightwish", "The Forever Moments" and "Etiäinen").
In early 1997, Jukka Nevalainen joined the band, to play drums. The acoustic guitar was replaced with an electric one. In April they went into the studio and recorded seven songs. These songs can be found on the limited edition of Angels Fall First.
In May of the same year, they were signed onto the Finnish record label Spinefarm Records for two records. Angels Fall First was released in November, and reached number 31 on the Finnish album charts. A single entitled The Carpenter had been released beforehand, and it reached number 8 on the Finnish singles chart.
Oceanborn / Wishmaster (1998–2000)
In 1998 Sami Vänskä joined the band to play bass guitar. This year they released the album Oceanborn. This album was far more technical and progressive than their first album in terms of songwriting and arrangements. The album also featured Tapio Wilska in two songs ("Devil and the Deep Dark Ocean" and "The Pharaoh Sails to Orion") . It reached number 5 on the Finnish album charts. The single from that album Sacrament of Wilderness, went straight to number 1 on the Finnish single charts. This album did better than anyone had expected. The second single to come out was Walking in the Air, a cover after Howard Blake's piece, part of The Snowman soundtrack.
In 1999, they recorded the single Sleeping Sun (Four Ballads of the Eclipse), for the eclipse in Germany. This single sold 15,000 copies during the first month in Germany alone. Oceanborn was a certified gold in August.
In 2000, Nightwish participated in the Finnish qualification for the Eurovision song contest with the song Sleepwalker. They ended up in second place. They won the public televoting, but the jury overruled. In May they released the album Wishmaster. It went straight to number 1 on the Finnish album charts, and stayed there for three weeks. During those three weeks it was certified gold. Wishmaster was, despite long-awaited releases from Iron Maiden and Bon Jovi, at the same time declared album of the month in the German magazine Rock Hard. The only single from this album was Deep Silent Complete.
Over the Hills and Far Away / Century Child (2001–2003)
In 2001 Nightwish recorded a cover of Gary Moore's Over the Hills and Far Away. Together with a couple of new songs and a remake of an old one, this was released as the EP Over the Hills and Far Away. They also released a VHS, DVD and CD with live material recorded in a special show in Tampere. All of these were entitled From Wishes to Eternity. Shortly afterwards, Sami Vänskä was asked to leave the band by Tuomas, and Marco Hietala from Sinergy joined the band. Hietala had left Sinergy to join Nightwish and is also a part of the band Tarot with his brother Zachary.
In 2002 Nightwish released Century Child, and the singles Ever Dream and Bless the Child. The main difference from previous albums is the use of a live orchestra from Finland on many songs, to get a stronger feeling of classical music. Century Child was certified gold two hours after its release, and platinum two weeks afterwards. It set a record on the Finnish album charts as well; never before had the second been so distant from the first place. After the Bless the Child video, a second one was released, without any single support though. The chosen track was End of All Hope. The clip contains pieces from the Finnish movie, Kohtalon kirja ("The Book of Fate").
In 2003, Nightwish released a second DVD, entitled End of Innocence. Tarja also got married during the summer of 2003, and there were rumours abound that the band was about to split up. These rumours were proven to be be false at the time of their existance, as the bane continued on to play anoter year of gigs and release a new album.
Once (2004–2005)
A new album entitled Once was released on June 7 2004, along with their first single, Nemo, from that album. Once contains a full orchestra throughout 9 out of the 11 songs on the album. Unlike for Century Child, Nightwish decided to look for an orchestra outside the boundaries of Finland this time. And they chose the London Session Orchestra, also used for recording the original soundtrack of The Lord of the Rings trilogy. It is also their second album to feature a full length song in Finnish, Kuolema Tekee Taiteilijan ("Death Makes an Artist"). Once has sold triple platinum in Finland, platinum in Germany, gold in Sweden and reached #1 in the Greek, German, Norwegian and Hungarian album charts. The following singles were: Wish I Had an Angel (featured on the soundtrack of the Alone in the Dark film), Kuolema Tekee Taiteilijan (released only in Finland) and The Siren.
The band performed at the opening ceremony of the 2005 World Championships in Athletics held in Helsinki.
A 'Best Of' was released in September 2005, containing the most successful Nightwish songs, from all their albums. The compilation is titled Highest Hopes, featuring a live cover of Pink Floyd's hit "High Hopes" (from the Division Bell album) and a remake of "Sleeping Sun" from Oceanborn. There has also been made a new video for Sleeping Sun, which can be found on the new Sleeping Sun single. This is included in the German release only. Spinefarm released a separate DVD with the new video.
End of an Era (2005–2006)
After the recording of the new live DVD (which isn't due for release until June 2006) End of an Era, the four other members of Nightwish decided that it was best for everyone to continue Nightwish without Tarja Turunen through an open letter [1], because they felt that her husband – Marcelo Cabuli – and commercial interests changed her attitude towards Nightwish and it didn't work well with the vision of how the rest of the band saw themselves in the future. Tuomas Holopainen gave the letter to her after the band ended their successful world tour promoting Once (which had lasted a year and a half) with a sold-out performance at Hartwall Areena in Helsinki on the night of October 21st, 2005. The letter was later published on the band's website. The replacement for Tarja Turunen has not yet been announced. Holopainen repeatedly stated in interviews that Nightwish's new singer will be announced in 2006.
Turunen has responded, saying that it came entirely as a shock to her. She felt that the personal attacks on her husband were unwarranted, and playing the issue out to the public was senselessly cruel. She was not consulted or spoken to before this letter was given to her. She wrote a letter saying most of this to her fans [2], and published it on her own website. She was also interviewed by various TV-stations, magazines and newspapers and stated her feelings towards the subject.
Line-up
- Tuomas Holopainen – Keyboards (1996—) (Vocals on Angels Fall First)
- Emppu Vuorinen – Guitars (1996—) (Bass on Angels Fall First)
- Marco Hietala – Bass/Vocals (2001—)
- Jukka Nevalainen – Drums (1997—)
Former members
- Tarja Turunen – Vocals (1996–2005)
- Sami Vänskä – Bass (1998–2001)
- Samppa – Bass (1996)
Guest musicians
- Tony Kakko (Sonata Arctica) – Angels Fall First and Over the Hills and Far Away
- Tapio Wilska (Finntroll) – Oceanborn and Over the Hills and Far Away
- Ike Vil (Babylon Whores) – Wishmaster
- John Two-Hawks – Once
Discography
Albums
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Angels Fall First (1997) Spinefarm -
Oceanborn (1998) Spinefarm -
Wishmaster (1999) Spinefarm -
Century Child (2002) Spinefarm -
Once (2004) Spinefarm
Compilations
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Tales from the Elvenpath (2004) Drakkar Records -
Bestwishes (2005) Toy's Factory
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Highest Hopes (2005) Spinefarm
Singles
- "The Carpenter" (1997)
- "Sacrament of Wilderness" (1998)
- "Walking in the Air" (1999)
- "Sleeping Sun (Four Ballads of the Eclipse)" (1999)
- "Deep Silent Complete" (2000)
- "Over the Hills and Far Away" (EP, 2001)
- "Ever Dream" (2002)
- "Bless the Child" (2002)
- "Nemo" (2004)
- "Wish I Had an Angel" (2004)
- "Kuolema tekee taiteilijan" (2004)
- "The Siren" (2005)
- "Sleeping Sun" (2005)
DVDs
- From Wishes to Eternity (2001)
- End of Innocence (2003)
- End of an Era (2006)
Cover songs
Live covers
- High Hopes by Pink Floyd
- Crazy Train by Ozzy Osbourne
- Wild Child by W.A.S.P.
- Crimson Tide by Hans Zimmer
- Leader of the Gang by Gary Glitter
- Deep Blue Sea by Trevor Rabin
- Don't Talk to Strangers by Dio
- For Whom the Bell Tolls by Metallica
- Symphony of Destruction by Megadeth
Album covers
- Where Were You Last Night by Ankie Bagger
- High Hopes (Live Cover) by Pink Floyd
- Phantom of the Opera by Andrew Lloyd Webber
- Symphony of Destruction (Live Cover) by Megadeth
- Over the Hills and Far Away by Gary Moore
- Walking in the Air by Howard Blake
External links
- Nightwish official site
- Nightwish discography at MusicBrainz
- Template:Last.fm
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| Live albums | |
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| Compilations | |
| Box sets | |
| Singles |
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| Related articles | |
